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1935. NEW ZEALAND.

PRISONS DEPARTMENT (REPORT ON) FOR THE YEAR 1934-35.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

The Hon. the Minister in Charge of the Prisons Department to His Excellency the GovernorGeneral. Wellington, 17th September, 1935. I have the honour to submit to Your Excellency the report of the Prisons Department for the year 1934-35. I have, &c., John G. Cobbe, Minister in Charge of Prisons Department.

The Controller-General of Prisons to the Hon. the Minister in Charge of the Prisons Department. Sir, — I have the honour to present the annual report of the Prisons Department for the financial year ended the 31st March, .1935, together with extracts from the reports of Controlling Officers, and the criminal statistics for the calendar year ended 31st December, 1934. The institutional reports have been considerably abridged on account of the existing need for economy. Prison Statistics. The statistics appended to this report show a continuation in the decline noted in last year's report, in the number of commitments to prison, the total receptions being 558 less for 1934 than for the previous year. Since 1931 there has been a decrease of 29 per cent. For purposes of comparison the following summary of receptions and discharges is submitted, including the daily average number of offenders in custody. The figure 1,360 for 1934 is the lowest for many years : —

In the foregoing table each separate admission or discharge is taken into account, whether received on transfer from one institution to another, and to arrive at the number of distinct persons involved it is necessary to make allowance for these transfers and also for cases where an offender has been imprisoned on more than one occasion during the year. The number of receptions are invariably greater than the number of distinct persons involved.

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- . . ~ ; . ■ . • .( . 7B ~ ;.... [ , j ..... ..." , j 1931. j 1932. j 1933. j 1934. I. I J I Number in custody at tie beginning of year .. 1,569 | 1,657 1,583 1,443 Number received during the year .. .. 6,354 6,179 5,087 4,529 Number discharged or transferred .. .. 6,266 6,253 5,228 4,135 Number in custody at end of year .. .. 1,657 1,583 1,443 1,236 Daily average in custody . . .. • • 1,634 1,669 1,543 1,360